UNFPA has been bringing its data, experience and stories to support the 10-year-old girl in a world of 8 billion through a variety of means. World Population Day 2023 gives us another opportunity to do so powerfully, as part of our continuing narrative on rights and choices to create a world of infinite possibilities.

Women and girls make up 49.7 percent of the global population. Yet their desires for their lives,  families and careers are often ignored in discussions on demographics and their rights violated in population policies. The result is a world that excludes, marginalizes and limits the potential of every other person on the planet – a problem that will prevent all of us, not just women and girls, from experiencing a more prosperous, peaceful and sustainable future.

At the root of this problem is gender inequality. Around the world, this pervasive injustice keeps women and girls out of schools, the workforce and leadership positions; limits their agency and ability to make decisions about their health and sexual and reproductive lives; and heightens their vulnerability to violence, harmful practices and preventable maternal death.

And perhaps most critically, it hinders the world from asking, or caring, about what women and girls want. 

But what they want matters, and UNFPA cares. As asserted in the 2023 State of World Population report, when women and girls are empowered by societies to exert autonomy over their lives and bodies, they and their families thrive. The knock-on effect is a better, more inclusive world, well-equipped to deal with whatever demographic changes and challenges the future holds.

On World Population Day 2023, we highlight the need to advance gender equality to help realize the dreams of all 8 billion of us. This process starts by listening to the voices of women, girls and other marginalized people and introducing laws and policies that enable them to exert their rights and make meaningful choices. 

Only then will we be able to harness the power half the planet holds to take on the pressing problems of our day. A diverse, thriving world of 8 billion people – full of infinite possibilities – depends on it.